Rangers star Corey Seager exited tonight’s recreation in opposition to the Orioles after being struck within the wrist space within the fifth inning by Baltimore lefty Cade Povich, as famous by a number of reporters (together with MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry) on X. The Rangers subsequently introduced that preliminary x-rays on Seager’s wrist had been adverse, although he’ll be evaluated additional tomorrow to find out the severity of the difficulty.
An absence of any size for the 30-year-old celebrity can be a brutal flip of occasions for the Rangers as they attempt to combat their approach again into the AL playoff image. The membership presently sits at 37-45 coming into play this night, 9 video games again of the Mariners within the AL West and seven.5 video games again of the Royals for the ultimate AL Wild Card spot. With Texas presently buried behind the Purple Sox, Astros, Rays, and Blue Jays within the race to catch the Royals for that closing playoff spot, the Rangers had been already going through an uphill climb as they search a possibility to defend their 2023 World Collection championship this fall.
Now, it appears attainable they’ll have to take action with out Seager, a minimum of in the intervening time. On the heels of a marketing campaign the place he slashed an unimaginable .327/.390/.623 en path to a second-place end behind Shohei Ohtani in AL MVP voting in addition to the second World Collection MVP honors of his profession, the 10-year MLB veteran obtained off to an uncharacteristically gradual begin in April however shortly started to warmth up when the calendar flipped to Might.
Over the previous two months, Seager has slashed a wonderful .273/.356/.521 (139 wRC+) to lift his season-long determine to 116, though digging a little bit deeper into his numbers would counsel that even that quantity has some misfortune baked into it. Seager’s .277 BABIP in 71 video games this 12 months can be the second-lowest determine of his profession and simply the second time he’s posted a determine beneath .300. In the meantime, his .335 wOBA is a far cry from his anticipated .379 determine, the latter of which ranks 14th amongst certified hitters this 12 months, sandwiched between Bryce Harper and Mookie Betts.
Even setting apart Seager’s underlying efficiency and focusing purely on his manufacturing thus far, the shortstop’s 116 wRC+ is one in all solely two above-average offensive performances the Rangers have gotten from certified hitters this season, trailing solely the improbable breakout efficiency of infielder Josh Smith. With key bats equivalent to Marcus Semien and Adolis Garcia not but assembly expectations this season, high prospects Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford struggling by means of accidents and ineffectiveness of their rookie campaigns, and star third baseman Josh Jung sidelined by a wrist damage of his personal since early April, the Rangers lineup has in some methods leaned much more closely on Seager this season than it did throughout his MVP-caliber 2023 season.
Within the occasion that Seager misses time, Smith seems to be the most certainly candidate to deal with shortstop in his absence, sliding over to the place from third base. Jung gave the impression to be nearing a return to motion not way back, though as famous by Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning Information the teen has been delayed in returning to taking batting apply by irritation in his ailing wrist. In accordance with Grant, Supervisor Bruce Bochy advised reporters previous to tonight’s recreation that Jung won’t swing this weekend and is headed to go to with a specialist on Monday to be re-evaluated. Even when that go to with a specialist finally ends up going nicely and Jung is cleared to renew swinging, Grant suggests {that a} conservative method to his rehab might see him stay out till play resumes after the All Star break.
Ought to third base be left open by Smith taking on for Seager at shortstop, it seems seemingly that the Rangers would name up one other infielder equivalent to Ezequiel Duran or Justin Foscue to pair with utility infielder Davis Wendzel on the scorching nook. Duran is essentially the most established massive leaguer of the three, having performed his approach into one thing of an on a regular basis function with the Rangers final 12 months in a bat-first utility function. The 25-year-old’s offense evaporated this 12 months, nonetheless, as he hit a paltry .256/.294/.324 in 58 video games earlier than being demoted to the minors. Foscue, in the meantime, is a former top-100 prospect with a profession .261/.396/.456 slash line on the Triple-A stage who has simply two massive league plate appearances beneath his belt. Both participant seems extra prone to take the lion’s share of accessible at-bats somewhat than Wendzel, a 27-year-old rookie who has struggled badly on the plate with a wRC+ of simply 15 in 25 video games with the Rangers this 12 months.
